An inkjet-type printing apparatus that executes printing by discharging ink from a print head onto a printing medium has been known from before. In an inkjet-type printing apparatus, when ink inside a plurality of nozzles with which the print head is equipped is exposed to air, the ink hardens or solidifies as a result of drying, increased viscosity and/or the like of the ink, causing clogging of the nozzles. When nozzle clogging occurs, ink is not properly discharged from the nozzle, resulting in a drop in printing quality.
In order to prevent exposure of ink inside the nozzle to the air, in many cases the nozzles of the print head are stored covered with a cap during non-printing times (when in print standby). However, when printing begins, in some cases ink is not discharged for a long time and is exposed to the air, depending on the nozzle. Consequently, cases arise in which avoiding poor discharging of ink resulting from nozzle clogging is difficult.
As a countermeasure to this kind of nozzle clogging, Patent Literature 1, for example, discloses an inkjet recording apparatus provided with a configuration that preliminarily discharges ink to the outside of a recording region (printing region) of an image. The recording apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3334913 improves poor discharging of ink caused by nozzle clogging by preliminarily discharging (spraying) ink that is the source of nozzle clogging (waste ink) from the nozzle with a timing prior to printing and/or the like.